pany's possessions. Every thing that the human mind could imagine of cruelty and barbarity, accompanied the course and tracked the steps of those ruthless invaders. It was stated in papers which had been laid before the Court, that the first notice of their approach was fire, and sword, and butchery, without limit; no compassion, no mercy was displayed by them; indiscriminate slaughter, without reference to age or sex, marked their career; or if the dagger was suspended with regard to females, it was only until these devils in the human form had committed still greater cruelty. In many instances, the violation of women but shortly preceded the application of the murderer's knife. Females were known to immolate themselves, from the fear of these monsters; whole districts were abandoned on the report of their approach; until at length this predatory force had acquired sufficient strength to establish itself in the heart of Indostan. For some time, the Marquis of Hastings felt his hands, as it were, tied with respect to the mode of punishing and putting down those lawless aggressors. But the representations to the Court of Directors became so frequent and so urgent, that at last, notwithstanding the constitutional jealousy which existed with respect to plunging into new hostilities, and the strong desire (knowing the responsibility which must be incurred, and the severity with which it would be scrutinized) not to encourage war, if war could be avoided, it was determined that those aggressions should be punished. It was felt necessary no longer to suffer so dangerous a state of things; a state of things, under which the protection of our Government had ceased to be considered as an effectual bar against rapine and spoliation; but had, in fact, become the cause and the excuse for plunder and devastation. The great difficulty, however, which the Marquis of Hastings had here to encounter, was emphatically pointed out in the latter part of this second resolution of thanks; for scarcely was there a Mahratta Chief or a Mahratta Prince, who did not secretly connive at the aggression of the Pindarees, or openly assist them; thence it was that the war became so murderous, so in. jurious, so calamitous, that we had no alternative except the political annihilation of those people, or the being subjected to a degrading and increasing domination, utterly inconsistent with that lofty character, on the maintenance of which our Government depended; a domination, under which no Government could long endure, and which it would have been infamous and disgraceful in any Government to have suffered. (Hear, hear!) Thus incited to action, the Company embarked in the war. They had succeeded to the fullest extent. They had avenged the infants

slain, the parents slaughtered, the females violated. They had completely subdued and put down this people; and those who formerly met in that Court to thank the Noble Marquis for the achievement, had abundant testimony of what he had performed, and how he had performed it, in the papers that were then laid before them. He could not take leave of this part of the subject, without again admiring the skill, valour, and energy with which, by extraordinary and combined efforts, the Noble Marquis had overthrown so many and such powerful enemies. It could only be done by virtually surrounding a territory so vast, that the thing appeared almost impossible, until their gazettes announced that it had been accomplished, and that the enemy was no longer formidable; and this the Noble Marquis had not only effected, but confessedly relieved their territories from danger of this description. About the same time some of the native Princes, as had been foreseen, were in open revolt, and brought well-appointed armies into the field, in support of those predatory hordes. Those armies were defeated, and such of the native princes as had only exercised private treachery, were, by a wise course of policy, converted into subsidiaries. However they might admire the skill, foresight, and valour which effected these mighty conclusions, and occasioned occupation of a most extensive country, they must feel doubly proud in the recollection, that the whole was performed without a single departure from the British character, without a single instance of want of humanity, without the imputation of any one moral stain on those who had so successfully wielded the Company's arms. This was something for which to be thankful.

After two glorious and successful wars, they now approached the period of peace. At that period he was glad they had arrived; and he was rejoiced to find the triumphs of peace recorded in the resolution of the Directors now before them. The resolutions previously agreed to, were principally for military skill, energy, and success-but now they approached that which the Hon. Chairman had most properly and emphatically denominated the moral part of our duty. Sure he was, that there was not a man in this country who would not, on reading that resolution, feel the same satisfaction as those persons must have experienced who drew it up: and who would not join in the compliment paid by the Hon. Chairman to the great moral effect which had been produced in India by the government of the Marquis of Hastings. military success had ended in the cession of a prodigious portion of territory: territory many times larger than Great Britain, the soil productive, and the climate, in many parts, of the most favourable

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kind with this territory, they became possessed of millions of population. Here then was a question for the philosopher, the christian, or the man, namely, have those ceded territories been treated in a manner consonant to the British character, and to that of the person who had so long guided the Company's government? He should be sorry to be understood as rising in that Court, the mere unqualified pane. gyrist of Lord Hastings; but he stood there, at least, as the bold challer ger; and he would aver, that if any person could bring forward a charge against the Governor-General as to the manner in which the ceded provinces had been treated, the present was the time to arraign the Noble Lord; the present was the fit season to urge such mis-government against the resolution which he meant to offer to the Court.-Hear, hear!) He would do homage to the man who fairly brought forward the charge; and, in that case, he would only ask permission of the Court to examine and reply to it.-/Hear, hear ! ) He, however, felt confident that no charge would or could be brought against the Noble Marquis, for his treatment of the ceded provinces. They had, he would contend, been wisely governed. The ,strongest arm, and the longest sword would conquer-but it was wisdom, and humanity, and moderation, that governed well-Hear, hear!) Did they demand testimonies of the conduct of the Noble Marquis in this respect? If they did, he would point out, in the territories in question, from the moment they became ours, such progressive improvement, such a speedy introduction of social and moral feelings, as far as we possessed the means of introducing them, as must silence every doubt and apprehension. He would point out to them a government, paternal and patriarchal, the great object of which might be summed up in two short propositions, "to make the people happy, and to convince them that their rulers were just."(Hear, hear!) It was in this view that he subscribed to the maxim, that theirs was a government of opinion. Let them, however, take the expression fairly. He did not mean a capricious, light, uninformed opinion, or one merely founded on supposition of physical strength; such government was uncertain in its principles, and frequently intolerable in its practice; it excited alarm and terror in the minds of its subjects, while their opinion of its strength continued, but that opinion ceasing, the charm was broken, and the fabric would be dissolved; for there could not be pointed out, in the history of the world, an instance in which grinding oppression, the offspring of bad government, had lasted for any considerable length of time, without producing discontent and repining in the first place,

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and in the end open resistance? Had such been the case with regard to the possessions of the Company? was there any man who had traced the history of India, and considered the immense portion of territory which had become the absolute property of the East-India Company, who did not feel a right to exult in the honourable character of their dominion, instead of deploring the circumstance as an evil to the native population?—(Hear, hear!) From those territories the Company derived a considerable income; an income so large, indeed, as to make the debt which the wars recently concluded had occasioned appear comparatively trifling. There was a surplus revenue of a million, and a growing sum besides. He, however, entirely subscribed to the principle laid down by the Hon. Chairman; and not merely that million, but millions on millions, he would reject as worthless and unhallowed, if they were gained at the expense of the peace and happiness of those over whom the Company ruled—(Hear, hear!) or had led to one single act of injustice towards those people, in order to meet our pecuniary or political necessities.- (Hear, hear!) He thought that the Noble Marquis had given one pledge, at least, of his favourable leaning towards those ceded countries, and the enlarged principles upon which he meant to govern them, by selecting Mr. Elphinstone, the Governor of Bombay, and General Sir J. Malcolm, to consider of the best mode of treating them. The extraordinary and known skill and talents of those gentlemen had, in that Court, been openly acknowledged and rewarded. These were the two persons whom the Noble Marquis had appointed, to consider of, and report on, the most salutary mode of governing the ceded provinces, consistently with those great and secure maxims of policy which he had previously laid down. Scarcely had three years elapsed since the close of those wars, when their labours were brought to an end. He understood that the erposé of Mr. Elphinstone was already in this country, and that Sir John Malcolm had brought home with him his report of the state of those territories which were referred to his consideration. He thought there was no great difficulty in believing, that any exposition coming from such persons must be of the most enlightened character. These documents were not yet published, and, therefore, he could not detail them at that moment; but he spoke on universal report, when he said, that Sir J. Malcolm had proceeded through those provinces without the necessity of fixing a bayonet, or firing a musket. So much

had been done by the influence of opinion, in preference to the use of the sword, that, he believed, among the most satisfied of their subjects, were those who had lately

come under their dominion. With respect to the political conduct of other states in India, although some of them were known to have been secretly plotting, it was thought wiser and better to overlook their conduct, and, as was the surest course and the truest policy, to consult the means of conciliating, rather than of irritating the governed. Therefore, the Nizam and other Princes, who had not taken the open path of war, and appealed to the sword, had been converted into or strengthened as subsidiaries, as the best means of mutual safety and security. The happy result was, that all India, at the present moment, was in a state of profound tranquillity; and the renewal of war, though not absolutely impossible, was, in the highest degree, improbable. Those who knew India best, who had the most general knowledge of the subject, were of opi nion, that it was scarcely possible for the peace of that country to be interrupted except through our own misconduct, and with such misconduct he hoped they should never be justly reproachable. When, at the close of the late war in India, they met in that Court, with what boundless applause did they not dwell on the conduct of their troops! How earnestly did they thank every part of those gallant forces who had achieved such proud results! If he did not now enlarge on their merits, it did not originate in any want of gratitude. They had formerly, in that place, with one common voice and feeling, endeavoured to do justice to their armies, and to those able Commanders who had so often led them to victory. The noble person, who was the particular object of their approbation this day, had, since that time, been anxiously employed, before he quitted the service, perhaps for ever, in doing every thing that lay in his power for the amelioration of the soldier's condition; and he (Mr. Jackson) was quite sure, that every advantage which could properly be granted to their officers, would be cheerfully conceded to them. But if, in the mean time, amongst the various projects that might be laid before the Executive Body, any plan should be offered which more particularly favoured the junior branches of their military service, he was sure it would be received with the kindest disposition towards them. They were looked up to as the fathers of their young civilians, and to them the service was at once rendered beneficial, by paternal care and salutary regulation. He wished the same kindness, the same feeling, the same endearing relationship to be extended to the younger branches of their army. Such was the nature and constitution of that army, that many years must roll away, before their young officers could taste that which was a soldier's best and dearest

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meed, advancement in rank and honour. He partook strongly of those feelings, which he believed pervaded the Court, in favour of their young military servants; who, he hoped, would ever be as much considered the children of the Company as their young civilians, or any other branch of their service. He had little more to add, except to remark, that the present situation of the Company was precisely what the Hon. Chairman had stated; and, if he (Mr. Jackson) had treated the subject in more measured phrase than such a history of success might be supposed to require, he had done so, because he wished not to make any impression, save that which was founded on the strong facts that had been laid before the Court. Was it for him panegyrize the conclusion of the Nepaulese war, their approbation of which the Directors had recorded, and which the Proprietors had so highly praised? Was it for him to enlarge on the extermination of the P'indarrees, when the Court had recorded the history of their outrages, and the glorious termination of their power to do wrong? Was it for him to applaud and consecrate the genius and foresight that could enter into the cabinets, nay, into the very breasts of the Mahratta Princes; that could detect their treachery, profound as it was, and prepare the way for conquest by precaution? Was it for him to go beyond the resolution of the Court of Directors, which stated those facts, and proclaimed that our Indian empire was not only tranquil at present, but perfectly secure from future attacks? It would be unbecoming in him, this day, to attempt, by eloquence, to add to claims like these. As little could he add to the high private character, which, some time ago, the Noble Marquis received in that Court; and sure he was, that a dignified and correct private character must ever produce the best possible effects on such a Government as that of India-and that advantage had been theirs! (Hear, hear!) All these points were generally known; and he would sit down in the hope and belief that the feelings of the Proprietors would mark their sense of them in the

most cordial manner. But acknowledgment of the merits of the Noble Marquis would not stop there; a grateful public would learn, in other places, what they owed to this great character: and how much the country had profited by his labours. And, in the name of that country, he hoped, that when the Marquis of Hastings came back, with all the experience which he had acquired, with a character so high and transcendant, in which wisdom and virtue were alike conspicuous, that the nation would so justly appreciate his value, as to call him to its councils, and not, as was the case with his Noble

predecessor, allow abilities of the first order to languish in the shades of private life, which, if awakened, and invited into action, would be productive of the greatest public benefit. (Hear, hear!) He shoud now conclude, with a motion, comprising the leading points contained in their former resolutions, in order to establish one perfect whole, and shew the ground of their warm and hearty concurrence in the resolution of the Court of Directors. (Bear, hear!) Mr. Jackson then read the following resolution:

“ Resolved unanimously, That this Court most cordially concur with the Court of Directors in their estimation of the unremitting zeal and eminent ability, with which the most Noble the Marquis of Hastings has, during a period of nearly nine years, administered the Government of British India, with such high credit to himself, and advantage to the interests of the East-India Company.

"That this Court, referring to the sentiments expressed by themselves and the Court of Directors, in Dec. 1816, on returning thanks to Lord Hastings for his skilful and successful operations in the war against the Nepaulese; to their resolution of the 3d of February 1819, recognizing the wisdom and energy of those measures which extinguished a great predatory power that had established itself in the heart of Hindoostan, whose existence, experience had shewn to be alike incompatible with the security of the Company's possessions, and the general tranquillity of India, applauding at the same time the foresight, promptitude, and vigour with which his Lordship, by a combination of military with political talents, had anticipated and encountered the proceedings of an hostile confederacy among the Mahratta States, defeated their armies, reduced them to submission, and materially lessened their means of future aggression; referring also to the resolution of the Court of Directors of the 10th March 1819, in which they appeal, at the close of two glorious and successful wars, to the records of the East-India Company, for the great services which his Lordship's unwearied assiduity and comprehensive knowledge of the Company's affairs, had enabled him to render to its most important interests: this Court cannot but with the highest satisfaction witness their Executive Authority again coming forward at the termination of a career so useful and brilliant, to express and promulgate their sense of his Lordship's exalted merit, and their deep regret that domestic circumstances should withdraw him from the government of their Asiatic Territories. That this Court strongly participate in that regret, and request the Court of Directors to convey to the Marquis of Hastings, Governor-General and Com

mander in Chief, their expressions of their unfeigned admiration, gratitude, and applause!"

Mr. Noel." Feeling the utmost admiration for the character of the Noble Marquis, and concurring entirely in the sentiments expressed by the Hon. and Learned Mover, I beg leave to second the resolution.”

The Hon. D. Kinnaird said, the time was at length arrived, when the Court of Directors had thought fit to call on the Court of Proprietors to express their opinion on the civil administration of the Marquis of Hastings They had summoned the Proprietors, on that day, to lay before them the joint expression of their thanks and their regret; or rather, he ought to say, of their grief and their gratitude, for such seemed to be the order and succession of their feelings, as recorded in their resolution. They had summoned the Proprietors, to sympathize in this expression, and they had farther added the expression of their anxiety, that this declaration of their grief and their gratitude should be promulgated in India, before the Marquis of Hastings shall have left its shores. One ground for that anxiety he could fully appreciate and well understand; but how it came to be so strangely introduced between these resolutions, nay, to stand prominent, not only as the preamble, but as the sole reason given for returning their thanks, did, he confessed, puzzle his conjectures. If it arose from belief that the arrival of this expression of their grief and their gratitude on the shores of India was necessary to enable the Noble Marquis to descend with dignity and with grace from that throne, to which his talents and his virtues had given its real strength and its true splendour; if the Court of Directors thought their testimony necessary for such a purpose, then would he say, he hoped without offence, that in his opinion they had greatly miscalculated both their own and their officer's position. If they thought that, at this time of day, the thanks of the Court of Directors could command from their Indian countrymen an undiscriminating praise, which "waited not on the judgment," they were, he feared, some quarter of a century behind the intelligence and the intellect of the day. Was the moral improvement and elevation of their fellow-subjects in India (the work of their own improved system), unmarked, or overlooked by them on this occasion? He did think, at all events, that the expression of that anxiety on such an occasion, was, to say the least of it, but a very simple part of their proceedings. What must be the interpretation which any individual of the Indian public-what interpretation could even the Marquis of Hastings himself, if he read their resolu

tion over a second time, put on this expression of their anxiety? Why, it must be considered as an admission that they had heretofore been slow and neglectful to declare their acknowledgment of that ability, which had been acknowledged and applauded in every part of the East. The thanks of the Court, to be effectual, ought to be fitly timed as well as fitly directed, and he conceived, that those who had now so tardily introduced this proposition, were open to the reproach of not having fitly timed it. He had, on more than one occasion, felt it to be his duty to call on the Court of Directors to pass judgment on the civil conduct of their Governor General. It was a judgment for which, on the part of the Noble Marquis, he had a right to call. He had purposely abstained from going farther, than to protest against their extraordinary silence. He was told, on those occasions, that there were no documents on which the Directors could come to a decision. He therefore demanded now, where were those documents? Had they arrived? and, if they had, why were they not produced? He found no allusion made to them in the resolutions of the Court of Directors; but, if they were in existence, why were they not laid before the Court? Why were not the Proprietors apprized of those documents, and of their contents? But, instead of any allusion being made to them, or any evidence or symptom of a calm deliberation, of a mature inquiry, he found nothing but a naked vote, passed too in terms on the spur of an occasion. The Directors said, they wished to pass and promulgate this vote before the Marquis of Hastings shall have left India. He knew not how that was, but from its terms there were some who might think that, instead of wishing to pass it before, they were desirous to pass it because he was about to leave India. Certainly the resolution might bear that interpretation; and this he would say, that that man must be a most injudicious, indiscreet, and unbending enemy indeed, who would not lend himself to such a proceeding, at such a moment; because it was an approved maxim of policy to build a bridge of gold, nay, an arch of triumph, for a retreating foe. He, therefore, most deeply regretted that this resolution was laid before the Proprietors only at the present day. Their cold regrets, and their halting thanks, might (if, favoured by the elements) still find the Marquis of Hastings on his Indian throne; but they would be lost in the ardent applause, the clamorous gratitude, and the sincerer sighs of those who had seen with their own eyes, and felt in their own families, the blessings of his paternal government. He had felt it his duty to the Court of Proprietors, a duty which, though painful, he owed to

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them, to say thus much, in order to vindicate them from any participation in that extraordinary indifference which appeared to have prevailed in the Court of Direc tors, towards the merits of the nine years administration of their Governor General. He thought the Court of Directors were chargeable with this neglect, as being the parties to whom all information on the subject was necessarily communicated. It certainly was no reproach to the Proprietors, if, in the course of what had been pleasantly called a seven years' transition from the blessings of war to the distresses of peace, their minds were directed to the consideration of various subjects, which distracted their attention from what was passing in India. But this excuse did not apply to the Directors; from them they had a right to expect an anxious attention to the interests of the Company, and to the character of their Government; from them, therefore, they had a right to expect a prompt notice of the conduct of the Governor-General. was, he confessed, with pain that he felt it necessary to introduce such observations, and to make such a preface to the support which he deemed it proper to give to the thanks, however inadequate, which were now offered to the Marquis of Hastings. Those thanks were brought forward, he conceived, most tardily, and in a manner that conveyed little honour on those with whom they originated. The proceedings of the Court of Directors ought to have been calculated to lead, instead of slowly following in the rear of public opinion. It was unquestionably more pleasing to turn to the merits of the Marquis of Hastings, rather than to descant on the indifference which he had shewn to have been manifested towards those merits. It would be entirely unbecoming the occasion, for him to conjecture what were the minute causes which created that strange indifference towards the Noble Marquis. If it were an important duty to punish and correct misconduct, sure he was that it was a duty, equally incumbent on them, in a moral sense, indeed it was an engine of good ten times more powerful in their hands, to take care that upright, honourable, and beneficial government was rewarded with due praise, and was not passed over with cold indifference. He thought the Court of Proprietors could not be justly charged with such indifference; and he protested, in their name, lest the Indian public, their enlightened countrymen, should take up what he considered would be a fatal opinion, namely, that they, the Proprietors, were indifferent to the exemplary good conduct, not mere ly of the Governor-General, but of all those who were placed in authority in our Indian Empire. The proceedings which had of late years taken place in India,